WHAT: Join Judith Enck, co-author and president of Beyond Plastics in conversation with Dr. Joshua Ginsberg, president of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies about Beyond Plastics’ new book, “The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late.”
WHEN: Sunday, September 27 at 4:00 PM ET
WHERE: Sharon Town Hall
63 Main Street
Sharon, CT 06069
RSVP: This event is free and open to all but please RSVP in advance.
Plastic is everywhere — wrapped around our food, stitched into our clothes, even coursing through our veins. What began as a marvel of modern science has become a toxic industry that is harming our health, polluting our planet, and driving climate change. According to a recent report in The Lancet, the world is in a plastics crisis, causing disease and death from infancy to old age, and covering the planet with 8 billion tons of plastic waste. Without bold new laws, these problems will only worsen. Plastic production has increased exponentially since single-use plastic’s start, from 2 million tons per year in 1950 to 450 million tons per year today. And production is expected to triple by 2060. Given that less than 6% of plastic is actually recycled in the United States, all that plastic will continue to harm us, our communities, and our environment.
The good news is there’s still time to turn off the tap and live in a world without pointless plastic. That’s the hopeful message at the heart of the new book, “The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late” from The New Press by Judith Enck and Beyond Plastics with Adam Mahoney.
The plastic pollution crisis is massive, systemic, and urgent. But “The Problem with Plastic” offers hope: We, collectively, have the power and influence to effectively slow the production of plastic. Plastic pollution is not inevitable; it’s the result of choices made by businesses, governments, and, to a lesser extent, everyday people. By equipping people with knowledge, hope, and an arsenal of solutions, we can put people and the planet before plastic, and save ourselves while there’s still time.
Join co-author Judith Enck for a free talk with Joshua Ginsberg, PhD, president of Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, in Sharon, CT to learn more about the plastic pollution crisis and the solutions outlined in this bold new book.
Judith Enck is the founder and president of Beyond Plastics, whose mission is to end plastic pollution everywhere. She was appointed by President Obama to serve as regional administrator in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 and served as deputy secretary for the environment in the New York Governor’s Office. Enck is currently a professor at Bennington College.
Dr. Joshua Ginsberg is the president of Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. His career in ecology and conservation science spans 35 years and has global reach. Ginsberg was an adjunct professor at Columbia University from 1998 to 2023 and has mentored nine PhD and 25 Master’s students. Since 2014, he has also been a member of Rutgers University’s Ecology and Evolution Graduate Faculty. Past academic appointments include: Research Fellow in Ecology at the Zoological Society of London, Honorary Research Fellow and Lecturer at University College London, and Research Fellow at Oxford University. As an American Association for the Advancement of Science Diplomacy Fellow, he provided guidance on international conservation issues to USAID, including matters relating to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.